Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Donny Puck picks have been disasterous throughout the entire NCAA Hockey Tournament. I had two of the Frozen Four teams picked correctly (Boston U and Vermont), but UVM was only there because I felt I needed to pick an upset somewhere in the bracket, and Michigan seemed ripe for the picking. In fact, for the Vermont/Yale first round game, I distinctly remember writing, "Pick one....Vermont" as my stone-cold, lead-pipe lock pick.

Therefore, DP will do the only noble thing before the final game and pick the only team which can restore some amount of sanity to the insanity which was the tournament....Boston University.

I think BU will win this game rather handily. Meaning no disrespect to Miami and its coach, Enrico Blasi (he is a George Gwozdecky disciple, afterall), but the Terriers have been the class of the NCAA throughout 2009. With the semi-final win on Thursday vs. Vermont, BU is now 23-2-3 during the current calendar year.

The Terriers have survived their last two games - both one-goal margins against New Hampshire and Vermont - but these have both been match-ups against conference rivals, and as Gopher fans can attest, anything can happen in a conference game. In a single-elimination format, conference match-ups always give the coaches fits. This is primarily why the selection committee chooses not to pair conference foes against each other in first round games.

So, Saturday evening at 6pm CDT, Boston University will begin its quest toward its first NCAA title since 1997, in Donny Puck's opinion.

Elsewhere, BU defenseman Matt Gilroy won the 2009 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Gilroy becomes the sixth defenseman and second Terrier to win the award (joining Chris Drury in 1998), which has been given out to the nation's most outstanding college hockey player each year since 1981. Congratulations.